Monday, January 21, 2008

Station Cove Falls

It was 16 degrees F this morning, very cold for this area. So we decided to take a short hike to Station Cove Falls, which I thought we would get to see frozen after several days of cold weather. There wasn't as much ice as I expected, but we got there at a good time with some sun on the falls, which is rare even in the summer.The picture above only shows the lower part of the falls, the whole thing is 60 feet high.I bought a new digital camera and then traded cameras with my daughter so I'm still getting used to this one. I'm fairly happy with what it did.

Thursday, January 17, 2008

done

We still have snow on the grass and trees, but the roads even early this morning were slushy, not icy. The prep was less difficult than I expected (no cramps) and I was able to sleep comfortably most of the night. No wait when we got to the hospital and the nurse got the IV on the first try. I took my mp3 player with peaceful music and they let me keep it on the whole time--I was particularly glad to have it when I had a bit of a wait for the doctor in the procedure room. The sedation drug, Diprivan, gave a burning feeling going into my arm and a weird taste in my mouth, but the next thing I knew I was in the recovery room asking "is it over?" No discomfort afterwards except a lot of gas and rumbling stomach as food hits my system again. Overall, a much less difficult experience than I had expected. And it showed no problems.

Update. It turns out that there is quite a controversy over whether it is worth the extra expense to give the kind of deep sedation I had. My procedure was done by a general surgeon in the hospital, more commonly they are done by gastroenterologists at the doctor's office.

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Wish me luck

When my doctor said I should have a routine screening colonoscopy, I said I couldn't handle the prep, it would bring back traumatic memories. She said she thought there was a way to do it with medication only. I went and talked to the doctor she recommended, and we modified the standard prep plan into something I felt I could handle. It was an interesting conversation because I went into it feeling comfortable standing up for my limits and he didn't try to argue with me but instead was much more flexible that you would expect from the instructions. Anyway, we scheduled the procedure for tomorrow.

So I've been on clear liquids all day. I've been checking my blood sugar a lot (probably 10 times so far) and finding that it tends to be lower than I want (under 90) and I have to drink more juice to keep it up. I've kept it level enough that I don't feel particularly hungry, though I miss food.

But the part where I need luck is the weather. The current forecast is for freezing rain and sleet tonight and I am supposed to be at the hospital 10 miles away at 7 am. I called the doctor's office and they said he is on call tonight so if I can get there he will be there. So I decided not to cancel. But it will be pretty frustrating if I do the prep tonight and we have an ice storm and I can't get there tomorrow.

Monday, January 07, 2008

radical ideas

Your self-acceptance does not magically negate someone else’s conformity; instead, it threatens to show that conformity for what it is (a punishing survival strategy in an oppressive culture) instead of what it’s idealized as (moral superiority, work ethic, individualism). It is much, much easier intellectually to blame yourself for not fitting in than to realize that the whole system has been rigged all along.

social class meme

This meme is from “What Privileges Do You Have?”, based on an exercise about class and privilege developed by Will Barratt, Meagan Cahill, Angie Carlen, Minnette Huck, Drew Lurker, Stacy Ploskonka at Illinois State University. If you participate in this blog game, they ask that you PLEASE acknowledge their copyright.

Bold the statements that apply to you:

Father went to college Father finished college Mother went to college Mother finished college Have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor.Were the same or higher class than your high school teachers. Had more than 50 books in your childhood home. Had more than 500 books in your childhood home. Were read children’s books by a parent. Had lessons of any kind before you turned 18. Had more than two kinds of lessons before you turned 18. (Swimming, riding, figure skating, tennis, dancing, piano.)The people in the media who dress and talk like me are portrayed positively. Had a credit card with your name on it before you turned 18. Your parents (or a trust) paid for the majority of your college costs.Your parents (or a trust) paid for all of your college costs. (Actually my grandmother.) Went to a private high school.Went to summer camp. (No, because we had a summer house at the beach.)Had a private tutor before you turned 18 Family vacations involved staying at hotels. Your clothing was all bought new before you turned 18Your parents bought you a car that was not a hand-me-down from them. (My first car was a hand-me-down from them, but when that one was stolen they bought me a new Ford Pinto.)There was original art in your house when you were a child You and your family lived in a single-family house. Your parent(s) owned their own house or apartment before you left home. You had your own room as a child. You had a phone in your room before you turned 18.Participated in a SAT/ACT prep course. Had your own TV in your room in high school. Owned a mutual fund or IRA in high school or college Flew anywhere on a commercial airline before you turned 16.Went on a cruise with your family. Went on more than one cruise with your family. Your parents took you to museums and art galleries as you grew up. You were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family.

What strikes me is that some of these things have changed over time. I don't think many kids in late 1960s had phones or TVs in their bedrooms, and prep courses and tutors were much less common. My kids would score higher than I do though we are much less wealthy, comparatively, than my parents were when I was a kid. Partly that is because of things that more kids have, and partly because this exercise pretty much tops out at upper middle class (eg. see my note to the question about summer camp).